1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to rain-gutter cleaners, and more particularly to pole mounted devices that allow an operator to remain on the ground even when cleaning a second story rain gutter.
2. Description of Related Art
Rain gutters mounted on houses allow the run-off water to be directed away from people and buildings so it will do no harm. Tree leaves and other debris often clog and fill common rain gutters, and then the run-off from the roof will simply spill wherever it can.
The most direct way to clean out rain gutters is to go up on the roof and use a small scoop or hands to clean out the build-up. But working so close to the edge of a roof can be very dangerous. Working from ladders is a little better, but ladders are not completely safe either. Ladders are also awkward to move about and position, and some spots along the rain gutter cannot be reached by ladder.
A simple garden air blower was adapted to have a long snoot in U.S. Pat. No. 4,402,106, issued Sep. 6, 1983, to Charles A. Mattson. The end of the long snoot is hooked to blow down into a clogged rain gutter. However, such blower sprays debris all over, on the house, and even on the operator on the ground below. A badly matted or stubborn tangle of debris in the rain gutters can also prove an impossible challenge to such a simple blower technique. The operator also cannot see where the clogs are or what they consist of. So a lot of guesswork is involved in the operation of the device described by Mattson.
A better rain-gutter cleaning system is described by Richard L. Watkins in U.S. Pat. No. 5,195,209, issued Mar. 23, 1993. A camera is mounted on top of a long pole so the operator can see into the rain gutter being cleaned from a safe place on the ground. A long tube runs up the pole and is used to vacuum out the rain gutters. A gas engine carried on a backpack runs the portable vacuum cleaner. Even though the operator can now see into the rain gutters being cleaned, some tangles and build-ups tend to continually clog the intake.